Pool Boy

The full list is here.

Thanks for sharing. Interesting results.

I put an olive oil cap on it and frezze part and keep some in the fridge. The olive oil keeps it from turning dark. As for how long it keeps....unfrozen, I don't know.

I forgot to add the oil cap to my pesto in the freezer yesterday. Can I add it now or am I too late?

I always start over every year with a couple of new basil plants.

I hope to strip the plants this weekend and make a lot of pesto (will freeze a bunch).

...I'm sort of surprised that guests don't get invited back if they don't eat something you presented them with (regardless of the reason). If they're a good friend, I'll invite them back. I know enough not to serve them the same thing I did last time, and I'll probably try to get some info on what they will/won't eat. I'm probably just too grumpy, but there are too few people I like in the world. When I start eliminating dinner guests (who are friends) based on their food preferences, the circle of friends around me becomes altogether too small.

It's not that I won't invite these folks over again ever (well, sometimes). It really depends. Imagine how difficult it would be to manage a dinner party if you have, say, 8 guests, all with more than a few food issues? Do you get a list from everyone attending to say what they won't eat (ever) if they attend? And then try to cross-reference the list to accommadate everyone?

Sorry, that is way too much of a pain in the ass to deal with. Friends with food issues might not get a dinner party invite for that reason (I guess it depends on how many food issue friends I do or don't want over for a given event), but they're certainly still my friends and will get invited over for other things where food issues ae less important. Maybe I'm just a "dinner party nazi", but there is an art (and a science) to hosting a great dinner gathering for friends....

Picky eaters are really no big deal to me. Sure, I find it baffling and puzzling, and possibly a bit annoying. But who cares? Let them eat what they want. They just probably won't get an invite over to my place for dinner (or at least a not repeat-invite).

Another thing to point out is that some people with food issues may have very real phobias associated that cause them their points of view. So, by all means, they should 'go with their gut' and only eat what feels/sounds good to them.

Me? I eat almost anything.

Braising, braising, and more braising

Early fall is also obviously a great apple season. I hope to head to Larriland with my wife to pick some. It's always fun to try some apples off the tree to get a sense of what a given variety tastes like. That and there is NOTHING like eating an apple right off the tree. So fresh, so juicy, so tart and delicious.

I like 'Underberg', an herbal digestif bitter, for the rare occasion where I have overindulged.

Mrs. TJ and I tried a friend's ketchep recipe and it turned out AMAZING!

Here's the recipe --

JOHN’S KETCHUP

8 lb. ripe tomatoes, washed, cored and cut in quarters

2 large onions, peeled and chopped

2 green peppers, chopped

1 1/ 2 tsp. whole cloves

2 (3 inch) sticks cinnamon, broken in pieces

1 tsp. celery seed

½ tsp. whole allspice

1 cup sugar

1/ 2 tsp. cayenne pepper

1/ 2 tsp. dried mustard

1 cup vinegar

2 tsp. salt

1) Put tomatoes, onions and peppers in large nonreactive kettle. Cook uncovered on high heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium and cook 30 minutes more. Press mixture through strainer back into big pot.

2) Tie cloves, cinnamon, celery seed and allspice in cheesecloth. Add to tomato mixture, along with sugar, cayenne pepper and mustard. Cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until mixture is reduced by half its volume – 2 to 3 hours.

3) Add vinegar and salt. Continue cooking over low heat until consistency and taste suit you – about 2 hours. Remove spice bag and spoon the ketchup into hot clean jar, leaving a ½ inch headspace. Process for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath. Store in a cool dark place. Once opened, store in refrigerator.

Note: for a less spicy ketchup, remove the spice bag at the end of step 2. Ketchup will be brownish in color from the spices but that’s OK.

NOTE-- I might edit the recipe after making it once. I might add a pound or two of tomatoes to go for the extra tomatoe-y tastes, and also kick up the heat just a nubbin. But that's just my personal preference. It is great just the way it is.

Sorry I meant to include a link to a picture. You can find it here.

DW, that was a good report. I'll comment on the wines later, but here are my comments on the food --

Amuse of Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho with Poached Gulf Shrimp

This was delicious. I 'settled' the gazpacho in the tall shooter glass a few times to get the stuff to the bottom to properly get it all out. Used a knife to scrape the dregs. Yum.

I. Pan Roasted Piopinno Mushromms, Fresh Corn "Polenta", Mushroom Jus

This course was sublime. I'd only wished the portion here was larger so I could've experienced more of it. The layers of flavour with the corn were amazing and the mushrooms formed a great counterpoint. Wow. Tied for my COTN (course of the night).

II. Seared Hudson Valley Foie Gras, Fuji Apples, Frisse, Aged Balsamico

Dinwiddie nailed describing this course. Pure foie perfection.

III. Wild Alaskan Halibut, Raviloi Vitello, Wilted Spinich, Pinot Noir Reduction

I thought this course was brilliant. I thought each component of the dish was great, but it shined most brightly when you tasted all of the things together. I'd not have thought to pair this together, but was very pleased with the result. Tied for COTN, too.

IV. Breast Of Muscovy Duck, Glazed Turnips, Poached Local Peaches, Duck Jus

While I thought this dish was good, I thought it was the weakest dish of the bunch. The dusk was well prepared, sure, but all of the components were. No, I think that the combination of flavors did not do it for me. Turnips and duck I can see working, as can the peaches and duck. But I did not really dig all three of these things together. Not a bad effort by any means, but, to me, clearly not up to the level of some of the other dishes.

V. 3 Year Gouda, Mustard Vinaigrette, Crispy Shallots

This was great. All of it worked well together and separately. I loved the crispy shallots and plan to lift the idea for cooking at home in the future. I saved a nice hunk of the cheese to finish with the remaining wine.

VI. Mascarpone Cheese Cake, Bruleed Black Mission Figs

I like the components of this dish. I love cheesecake, particularly that made with mascarpone. And I adore figs. But I didn't think this paired so well. It wasn't bad, but I just didn't think the pairing worked very well. So I ate the component separately and was very happy.

The service was great. The staff took great care of us, particularly with all of the wine glasses. I was not expecting them to commit so many glasses to us over the course of the evening. I was expecting maybe 3 stems tops to be given to us. But they kept bringing new ones which was very nice. I had 6 wines in front of me at one point. The trick was remembering which wine was which. It was also great to meet the chef and I was glad to be able to speak with him for a short bit.

*yawn*

They make a style of wine I do not really prefer, though I have not tasted their latest incarnation's efforts. I'll give them a whirl if by chance I have an ooportunity, but it's no loss if I don't.

Enjoy the wine, particularly since you like it. I'll keep hunting.

For some reason (OCD?), I've been stockpiling wine corks. I have two 1-gallon ZipLoc bags filled to bursting. Does anyone know of a USE for them?

I've thought about tossing some on the coals on my grill as smoking agents. Any ideas?

I have only returned corked wine to a wine shop once. That is because it'd only been a few weeks since the purchase and all three of the same bottle of wine I bought were bad. They took it back no questions asked.

Now, my main issue is that I tend to buy wine and hold on to it for later consumption. While much of the consuming public buys wine in order to drink it that day or certainly within the upcoming week, I do not. So trying to return a bottle that is corked a year or two or three later is just not likely to happen or work, so it's my loss.

A shout out to Mrs. TJ! I would think this would be intolerably nerve-wracking.

Several years ago, the WaPo Food Section featured foods which had won at State Fairs. They published a recipe for chocolate cake with chocolate icing which won the Virginia State Fair prize one year. I made it a couple of times before dumping the recipe: it was UNBELIEVABLY sweet and cloying.

Any chance she would share hers?

I've checked with the boss, and the chocolate cake recipe and icing are off limits for now. Maybe sometime soon or maybe next year she'll be willing to share. I think she's most protective of the icing recipe. And let me tell you, this cake rocks. It is so wonderfully chocolatey and the icing is such a great counterpoint and, you guessed it, it is definitely NOT cloying at all. This cake is in balance. I wish I could share the recipe (and I will when she decides it is OK to).

Someone asked for the pumpkin bread recipe. Just PM me and I'll send it over. That was approved for sharing.

Congratulations! Any chance of getting the punpkin bread recipe via PM?

Let me check with the boss.

Some of you might know that Mrs. TJ has taken up the competitive Baking tack and run with it starting 4 years ago. After testing the waters in the Prince George's County Fair and the Howard County Fair, last year she targeted the Maryland State Fair and walked away with 'Best In Show' Cookie honors for her fabled Ginger Spice Cookies.

So, Mrs. TJ, due to Maryland State Fair Rules, would not be able to win Best In Show for cookies this year, so she said 'Why enter cookies if I have no chance to win the whole thing?!' So she entered a few items in the other baked goods sections....Let's see how she did ---

Double Blueberry Muffins

A variation of a recipe, this involves whole and mashed blueberries as well as a crisp top. These unfortunately did not place in her category. I swear, the Blueberry Muffin category was FILLED with competition. But her muffin recipe as entered suffered from the delay in time of coming out of the oven and the judging. The crip top becomes too moist and loses it's 'thing' -- so back to the drawing board for next year.

Applesauce Spicecake

This is another variation on a recipe. Meant to be served with caramel icing, Mrs. TJ winged it and instead poured the cake in to a decorative bundt mold and hoped for the best. This category demand NO FROSTING, to best taste the essence of the applesauce spice cake, methinks. Sadly, this also did not place. We'll either have to rethink the approach or recipe for next year or try something totally new.

Pumpkin Bread

Inspired by a Mama-of-TJ recipe, Mrs. TJ took the recipe and made a couple of minor tweaks and entered it. This has done reasonably well in prior years, placing, I think at least once. But this year we harvested an early ripening butternut squash from our garden, and used that as the primary pupkin base for the recipe and supplementing only where needed with other pumpkin mush. This may have been what tipped us over the edge, BECAUSE SHE GOT FIRST PLACE! Woo-hoo!

Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Icing

This was entered in the Devil's Food Cake category. What I found interesting was that all, yes all, the other entries in this category went with 'white' icing. Bizarre. Mixing up some ingredients as if by a whim of her own, Mrs. TJ concoted a true chcolate lover's cake. Pure choclate decadence without being too sweet and too cloying. The icing sealed the victory as SHE GOT FIRST PLACE!

Unfortunately, another cake won Best In Show this year, so that only has rejuvenated Mrs. TJ's drive for next year.

Just finishing up an American rose, Californian really, a 2004 A Donkey and Goat Grenache Rose -- deliciously good and quaffable

I am meeting with a vendor of mine in NYC on Monday with offices right on Time Square. Lunch is included and before I suggest db Bistro Moderne again, I thought I'd see if anyone else has any suggestions for another place to try that is is the same general area. TIA

A minor peeve of mine has to do with when I order an iced tea. Now, typically, this is for lunch, but, on some occasions, I order it with dinner. Like tonight.

Anyway, iced teas usually is served with a single wedge of lemon. I prefer to have an extra wedge or two with mine and I do use them. So, when I order it, I specifically say 'Iced tea with extra lemon', often I even make a motion that indicates several rimming a glass. Well, almost always, I get iced tea with a single wedge. Oh well.

But, perhaps even more bothersome, is when I get a refill of the glass. 98% of the time, I get extra tea poured in the same glass and they bring no extra lemon wedge. Argh! Why?

Anyway, when my request for extra wedges of lemon get answered, and particularly when I get extra wedges with a refill (or with a fresh glass of it), I definitely notice and appreciate it. I usually tip at 18-20% and I'll kick in an extra 5 or even 10% just for that....a few extra wedges of lemon.

Arguably, Marquis Philips is the finest cough syrup I have ever had. ' 03 Sarah's Blend or the '03 Shiraz for me are remarkable wines for the price-about $12 or 13.00. (I am not as big of a fan of the screw top '04's.) The '03 #9-for a $35 wine is full bodied with a great deal of depth. (House wine at Citronelle?)Still, my wife, argues they taste like expensive cough syrup. Henry's Drive, for her, does not have the ancestry that Elixir Terpin Dydrate has; still she's not particularly fond of it. But that's all right. The half dozen or so cases I have left of their wine no longer has to be shared! I expect I'll also have the Boxer to myself, too.

So be it!

I have never had the chance to Experience any of the higher end M-P bottles like the 9 and the Integrity. I did try some Henry's Drive and found the reserves to be enjoyable. But man, I think they need to be drunk young, and cooler than I normally prefer my reds too. I think I am more or less over my 'Aussie Phase' of wine drinking....for now. I'll revisit when I am done with Italy, perhaps. But that'll probably take me ten years at least. BTW, I agree with your wife's cough syrup comments.

I have never heard of a 95 point Parker red, let alone a shiraz, that sells for $18.33 a bottle. This is the prearrival price due in September. On the internet Wally's in L. A., Sokolin and Zachy's in New York all are offering it on pre-sale for $21.95 and up per bottle. Pedigree: Sarah and Sparky Marquis who launched Marquis Phillips and Henry's Drive. One case limit per customer.

I may be in the minority here, but I think Sarah & Sparky's wines are generally overrated, particularly by Parker. Generally too 'sweet' and subject to wide bottle variation. That said, clearly I have not tasted this wine nor have I had any of the wines these two have been responsible for in about two years.

Fly into Milan, take the Eurostar to Bologna and eat. Then to Florence and eat. Then to Rome to eat some more. After all of that, fly to Palermo for a milza (veal spleen sandwich). Then fly back to Milan to fly home, and not eat for a week.

Other than flying to Palermo, that will be my first week in October.

Thanks for the tips. An early ressie has been made for next week on the weekend. Tasting menu is fine, and they can deal with my brother's vegematicness with no worries. We'll remind them when we arrive, too. And they allow BYOW, too for a $20 corkage so I get to bring some goodies from the cellar. Looking forward to it.

I am hoping to go here very soon. One of the folks in attendance is a vegetarian, do you all think this will pose a problem? Is it something we should call ahead about?

If we do the tasting menu like I think we'd all ideally like to try, can they make vegematic options for the one in our party, or will we just have to a la carte it?

TIA

I love to eat and try new things. I make special trips to go to Philadelphia. Or New York City. I go out of my way on trips to hit places I have only read about before, just to try something great and new (think Smitty's in Lockhart, TX). I plan my trip[s around the dinners I hope to experience.

But I'll be damned if I hardly ever make it to NoVa much to do the same. I know, I know, that's weird.

Maybe I hate the NoVa traffic (which from all of my experiences is generally worse (though not by much) than Maryland's traffic). Maybe I hate to drive 45 min or an hour just to eat someplace. It makes it easier if the traffic is light, sure, but we all know it usually is not. I try NoVa places I have heard about when the opportunity presents itself, like when I need to be down there for something else anyway.

I just thought of another thing. I drive to Arlington, and even sometimes Alexandria far before I'll go to Fairfax or Reston or anywhere out in 'western' NoVa. Why? Well, since DC is generally where I choose to dine, to hop over to Arlington or Alexandria isn't thaaaaat much further (ok, Arlington more than Alexandria), so it's not as much a stretch for me. Anyway, I'll make trips over there to hit some wine shops, maybe hit Cheesetique and a lunch of Crisp & Juicy. That's a good day IMO.

But to schlepp across the American Legion Bridge or the WW Bridge is agony to me. I do it only on rare occasions anymore mainly due to the traffic. I make exceptions of course (the couple times I have hit Maestro for example, some dinners at a super-foodie pal of mine's home as he cooks like a demon), but I far prefer to hit DC or places in MD and/or Arlington far before elsewhere in NoVa.

But give me a reason to go and I'm there. Give me a quest and I am there. Find me down there for another reason and I'll happily seek out a good food experience. But please, do not ring me up on a Thursday night at 6:30 or 7 and say 'Hey dude, let's schlepp to Reston for this great place I discovered!' BAH I say. Not worth it.